Fruit flies turn on autopilot

High-speed video shows how bugs change course in a flash

View a video of a fly ‘swimming’ through the air.

High-speed cameras plus computer models show that fruit flies “swim” through the air like rowboats. Attila Bergou/Physical Review Letters 2010

Fruit flies turn in midair with a shrug of their shoulders.

A new analysis shows that the flies’ aerial gymnastics are driven by wing joints that act like wind-up toys, letting the bugs whirl around almost automatically.